Two is better than one
by a-study-in-sourwolf
Summary: When John and Elizabeth gain the ability to speak telepathically, they must learn to adapt to the new situation and not drive each other crazy! My first Sparky fic ever! Please reveiw and give feedback! Rated M for later chapters.
1. First Contact

All seemed quiet on Atlantis for the past couple of days. After their last battle with the Wraith, in which they successfully destroyed three hive ships and seriously incapacitated another one, everything and everyone seemed to just…calm down. Maybe they were preparing for another attack; Elizabeth thought then sighed, rubbing her temples. She could go mad if she started thinking about such things now. They were nowhere near ready for another battle. Their last ZPM was seriously depleted and there was no way they could power up the shield with only one. A small smile tugged at the corners of Elizabeth's mouth as she remembered reading over Rodney's emails that morning. She could swear that man never slept. When she turned on her laptop in the morning, she was surprised to see that Rodney had already sent her five emails of great importance. Or so he thought. After the first two emails, each at least ten pages long, Elizabeth shut off her laptop, groaning softly. Yes, she understood that getting another ZPM was something that needed to be done, and fast. However, harassing her about the issue wasn't going to make the whole process go by any faster. They first had to make sure that the city got repaired and was good to go. And then, they'd start looking for another Zero Point Module. She didn't see any point in telling Rodney all this. She was more than certain he was aware of that fact but was just being his usual self. His usual annoying self. A soft knock on her office door brought Elizabeth out of her thoughts. She looked up at the man standing in the doorway and smiled, taking a sip of her now cold coffee.

"John. What can I do for you?"

John flashed a tight smile as he walked into her office, carefully. On any other given day he would have just waltzed in, making himself comfortable but right now he looked like he really, really did not wish to be there, she noticed, a small frown appearing on her face.

"Hey…" he replied, sitting down on the chair opposite of her desk, looking anywhere around the room but at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, her full attention focused on John. She never saw him this uncomfortable before.

"Uhm, nothing really. Just came by to…chat." He finished the sentence awkwardly, giving her an uncomfortable smile.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, clearly letting him know she didn't believe him. "Then why do you look like you'd rather be fighting Wraith than sitting here right now?"

John scratched the back of his head then sighed, sitting straight up in his seat. "Okay, look. I know you want everyone focused on repairing the city and stuff but Rodney talked to me this morning and apparently he found—"

"John." Elizabeth held up her hand, shaking her head. "We've talked about this before. Until all areas of the city are back online and functioning fully, all gate activity is banned. "

"Yes but my team can handle this Liz and it's not even in search of a ZPM. It's just a weird energy reading on PFX-519. The poor guy's been researching that planet all night to make sure it's safe and worth it. We've been stuck on Atlantis for days now. My team and I need to go off world or we'll seriously start injuring each other. Well, Rodney mostly."

Elizabeth stared at John dumbfounded at first. She never heard or noticed John call her "Liz" before. Gosh, she hasn't been called that for years now. Ever since her father died…She shook her head, not letting herself think of that dreadful day. Sighing heavily, Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. "John, I need you and your team working on this city right now. I can't spend my time worrying about whether you are safe or have fallen in another trap. Because God knows a lot of the Genii people want you dead and they'll do anything to reach their goal. So I'm sorry but you and your team are staying here for the time being. I'm sure that weird energy reading will be there this time next week. We should be functioning fully by then and I'll be able to send a rescue team after you if that's the case."

John rolled his eyes, while listening to Elizabeth's speech. He suddenly froze as he noticed a weird looking object on Elizabeth's desk which wasn't there before. Not that he kept track or anything. Forgetting their current topic of conversation, John leaned closer to her desk and picked up the weird looking statue, staring up at Elizabeth. "This is new." He stated simply.

Elizabeth stopped, surprise evident on her face at the sudden change of topic. 'Y-Yes, it's from a friend."

John nodded, leaning back in his seat, holding the statue in his hands, analysing it. "Oh, I wasn't aware you had any friends on Atlantis."

Elizabeth frowned, looking down at her hands, trying to stop the hurt from showing on her features.

Realizing how his words must have sounded, John quickly corrected himself. "I mean, besides me and Teyla, Ronnon, Carson, Rodney. You know the whole gang…."

Elizabeth's features instantly relaxed as she looked up at John, flashing him a small smile. "Yes, I know. But this isn't from anyone on Atlantis. It's from a friend of Teyla's, uhm, Nathan I believe, is his name." she nodded a little.

"Oh Nathan. You mean the weird little dude with the creepy looking hair?" John smirked, throwing the statue in the air then catching it just before it crashed against the edge of the table.

Elizabeth stood up and snatched the statue from John's hands, glaring at him a little. "Give me that. And he's not that weird. He's just…different…"

"You know I heard he's looking for a wife. Which is why he probably gave you that little thing over there?" John pointed his index finger at the statue, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. "And by accepting that you might have just said yes."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes once again, looking down at the statue. She was surprised when Nathan showed up at her door with the statue in his hands. And her surprise grew even more when he had asked her out. She felt flattered but she kindly turned him down, using her work on Atlantis as an excuse. She didn't think John should know that particular detail, however. She was intrigued to see the ways he would come up with just to tease her about her "new friend."

"…and you would probably have little Weir kids running around Atlantis in a couple of years…" Elizabeth realized that John continued talking while she got caught up in her thoughts once more. Shaking her head, she straightened up in her hair and looked at John. "I can assure you that none of that will happen. Ever." She stared at him, making sure that he had nothing else to say on the matter, and then her expression turned once more serious. "Now that we got that covered how about we go back to the more professional issue that I tried discussing with you before you so kindly interrupted me. I can't let your team go off world just yet. You'll just have to wait until I give you a green light. And tell Rodney to stop trying to convince me otherwise."

John groaned softly, rolling his eyes, annoyed. He sighed heavily then tried his luck once more. "Fine. Then my team can stay here and help repair the city and I'll just go and take a look alone. By what Rodney can tell from the Ancient database, the planet is inhabited by a…nice race of people. They're not technologically developed at all. Well, except for that weird energy thingy…" He sat up abruptly, nodding a little. "So…I'm good to go then?"

Elizabeth sat up as well, glaring at John. "Haven't you been listening to what I've been saying? The major part of this galaxy wants nothing more but your head on a plate. The Genii have people everywhere John. I can't let you walk into a trap. Like you said before, Rodney couldn't find evidence that the people of PFX-519 are technologically advanced but that doesn't mean that they aren't. I can't afford to take that chance John. Not now. "

"I can take care of myself Elizabeth." John replied, his voice tight, trying hard to supress his anger.

"You are not to travel off world until further notice Colonel. That's an order." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to defy her. She had used his rank, wanting to remind him that he was second in command and that what she said was final. Knowing he had received the message, she then sat back down at her desk, opened her laptop and pretended to be working, completely ignoring John. There was nothing more to discuss on the matter. She only hoped, he wouldn't go behind her back and do something stupid.

John stood there, staring at her for a few more seconds, without saying anything then he simply turned around and walked away, his whole body tense, clearly pissed off at the situation or at Elizabeth, he couldn't really tell anymore. She rarely forbade him to travel off world. And she only did so when they were in real danger, which wasn't the case right now. John growled softly, causing the people he passed on the hallway to give him weird looks. But John didn't care. Wanting to rid himself of all this frustration and energy he possessed, he took a right turn, climbing up the stairs to the gym. Ten floors up, John finally reached the gym, panting, a little too heavily for his liking. Not giving himself any time to recover he entered the gym and wasn't surprised to find Ronon and Teyla sparring, like they did almost every day, whenever they could find some free time. The pair completely stopped and watched John's face closely as he entered the gym.

"Ronon, Teyla." He mumbled, nodding his head a little towards them.

"Colonel Sheppard. I did not know we were scheduled for a sparring match today." Teyla replied softly, trying hard to get a read on John, who hand his back turned at them.

"We don't. Just came here to blow off a little steam. Or is that not allowed?" he snapped at her, taking out an air mattress, throwing it angrily down on the ground.

Teyla took a step back, not expecting that kind of response. "No, of course you are allowed, Colonel." She looked up at Ronon who simply shrugged, walking back to the bench. He sat down, picked up a bottle of water and fixed his eyes on John, watching him closely.

Teyla rolled her eyes then sighed, wondering how to talk to John. He was obviously angry at something or someone. "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked, although she already suspected what the response would be.

"Nope, I'm good." John replied as he started doing sit ups and push ups until his body was sore and he couldn't move no more.

John had been moping around Atlantis for a few days now. He tried avoiding work as much as possible, only working on the puddle jumpers and training the rest of that time. He had also successfully avoided Elizabeth at all costs, always leaving the room right before she got there. He knew this wasn't how he usually behaved but since they weren't doing anything important, he thought he could play a few games with his boss. He saw it as payback for his misery. John flashed a flirty smile to a cute nurse as he entered the infirmary. "Hello…" he spoke softly as people passed him by. He looked around the infirmary for a friendly face, smiling widely when he saw Dr. Beckett treating a patient at the back of the room.

"Hey Doc!" John smiled widely, hopping onto the empty bed next to the patient the doctor was treating.

"Ah Colonel Sheppard, I was wondering when you were going to stop by." Doctor Beckett said in response, not looking up from the patient he was patching up. His Scottish accent made it rather difficult for John to understand him at first. His accent seemed to become more pronounced whenever he was concentrating on something.

"What you doing doc?" John asked, swinging his legs back and forth, looking quite comfortable.

"Oh you know…just trying to do my job around here unlike other people…" he mumbled softly under his breath as he dismissed the female engineer with a broken arm. "You're all good to go, love. I wouldn't try lifting anything just yet though." He patted her back gently, smiling then he turned to John, watching him closely.

"Hey I work around here…" John replied defensively, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do you now?" An amused voice called from behind John. It was Elizabeth's. John's body immediately straightened up, tensing just a little. "Doctor Weir." He cleared his throat awkwardly, glaring a little at Carson, who simply smiled sweetly at him. He nodded once in Elizabeth's direction then he quickly left the two alone, going to attend to his next patient. Sheppard rolled his eyes then reluctantly turned towards his boss, giving her a small smile. "So what brings you by?"

Elizabeth smiled, walking around the infirmary bed to face John. "I've heard you've been a no show this week for any of the duties assigned to you."

"Well, you've heard wrong then. I've been…working." He replied sounding unsure of what he was saying.

"Yes, I heard about that too. I've been receiving several complaints from the engineering department and from Rodney these past few days."

"Oh really?" he asked, looking down at his hands, only now realizing the trouble be must be in because of his behaviour.

"Yes, so imagine my surprise when Rodney, who would never complain about you because he idolizes you in his own weird way, started sending me daily complaints to have you locked up due to being a nuisance."

John rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. "He's just exaggerating. I was merely trying to help. They were moving extremely slow with those puddle jumpers. An extra hand couldn't have done much wrong."

Elizabeth sighed, not bothering to comment on John's last comment. She looked down at the ground for a few moments, then taking in a deep breath, she spoke softly. "So, I'm coming with you."

John blinked, having no idea what Elizabeth was talking about. "Okay…where are we going?"

"We're going off world to PFX-519." She replied reluctantly.

She could see John's entire face lit up as he jumped down from the bed. "Seriously? We're going out? What made you change your mind?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms against her chest, scoffing a little. "Do you seriously need an answer to that John?"

"Oh…yeah, no, not really…I think I already know…" he gave her an awkward small smile, before looking away, embarrassed.

"I've never seen you act like this before and I don't want it happening again. Do we understand each other, John?"

"Yes, ma'am, we do." He replied politely, not taking any chances to anger her again.

"Good. Now go gear up. We're leaving in an hour."

"Okay, first, I'll let Teyla and Ronon know that we're going off world then we'll meet you back at the gate in an hour." John replied, already making his way out of the infirmary.

"That won't be necessary, John." Elizabeth called out after him.

"And why's that?" John asked, turning around abruptly, confusion written all over his face.

"If you and I are going off world, Teyla needs to stay here to be in charge and Ronon has already gone down to the mainland to help Teyla's people with some repairs."

John groaned. "Oh that's just great."

Elizabeth smiled. "It's just you and me John. And well, Rodney. He insisted that he come as well."

"Super." He flashed a small fake smile then he turned around as walked out of the infirmary before Elizabeth had more chances to tell him something else he probably wouldn't have liked.

Elizabeth sighed; shaking her head as Dr. Beckett approached her slowly, stopping just behind her. "Hard man to please, that lad."

Elizabeth looked up startled, and then she chuckled softly, nodding a little before replying. "You have no idea Carson."

Elizabeth checked her watch as she sat up from her desk. Ten more minutes until they were due to leave. She sighed, swallowing hard, suddenly feeling nervous. She rarely got to travel off world and when she did get the chance she always felt bad for leaving Atlantis behind. She looked down at herself and smiled a little. She was all geared up and good to go. Making her way out of her office, she looked down at the gate, smiling as she saw McKay and John arguing, probably about McKay's earlier complaints. Shaking her head, she made her way to Chuck, their gate tech. "Dial up the gate. We're ready to go. And have a rescue team standing by and medical aid as well. We don't know what we might encounter on that planet. If we are not back in five hours send the rescue team after us."

Chuck looked up, smiling politely at Dr. Weir. "Yes ma'am." He quickly turned around to the Ancient symbols in front of him, dialing the correct sequence for the planet PFX-519.

Elizabeth made her way down the stairs, slowly towards the stargate, stopping right between McKay and John. They were still bickering, she noticed, like an old married couple, rolling her eyes she spoke loudly, making her presence known since the two men didn't seem to notice her. "Gentlemen, are we ready to go?" she asked, looking to her right at McKay then glancing over at John, giving him a warning look.

John shrugged then growled softly towards McKay, causing the poor scientist to move farther away from John to Elizabeth's right. John chuckled softly, shaking his head then he turned towards Elizabeth, his eyes roaming up and down her body, unconsciously licking his lips. "I always liked a woman in a uniform."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at that comment, and then pushed past the two men, moving towards the stargate in order to hide her smile and the faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "Focus, John." Looking back at Chuck in the control room, she gave him a final nod then continued moving in closer towards the stargate. "Now let's move out, looks like we're all ready to go." She said then a second later went through the stargate, not waiting to see if McKay and John were behind her.

McKay and John glanced at each other, neither of them moving. John rolled his eyes, holding one hand out towards the gate. "Ladies first." He said, smirking slightly as he saw the anger return to his friend's face. McKay sighed, then mumbled a small "Bite me," before rushing quickly through the gate, not giving John any chance to react to what he said.

John's eyes widened in surprise not really having expected to hear that from McKay. He chuckled softly, shaking his head then he stepped through the gate which closed up behind him just a few seconds later.

Elizabeth turned towards the gate, seeing John finally come through. "What took you so long Colonel? I was afraid you changed your mind."

John smiled, his gaze flicking quickly to McKay before turning his attention back to Elizabeth. "Oh, no chance of that happening, doctor Weir. I was just…chatting with McKay, isn't that right Rodney?"

Rodney McKay rolled his eyes at his so called friend then turned away and looked around, inspecting the area around them. "Well…there's certainly lots of vegetation around us…" John remarked before Rodney could say anything.

"How insightful of you." Rodney replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you." John said simply, smiling sweetly at McKay, knowing it would only infuriate him more.

Elizabeth's attention was caught by the sound of rustling leaves. She held up her hand, causing the two men to stop bickering, and then took a few careful steps in the direction she thought she heard the noise come from.

"What is it?" John asked, looking around, all the amusement and foolishness leaving his features, his body language showing he was ready for attack.

"I thought I heard something…" she mumbled then was brought to an abrupt stop when a small girl ran out of the bushes towards them, giggling loudly. She couldn't have been more than three years old. Not taking any chances, John immediately brought out his gun, aiming it at the small, innocent and defenseless girl.

McKay groaned. "Oh that's just great. Kids, just what I needed." He noticed John aiming the gun at the little girl and rolled his eyes. "She's a child Colonel. What are you going to do? Shoot her?"

"Hey, she could be a trap. I saw it happen before." John replied defensively. "And I'm not falling for that a second time." He mumbled softly under his breath, not meaning for anyone else to hear him, but Elizabeth being the closest to him, did. She turned around and smiled at him reassuringly, stepping in front of his gun, pushing it gently to the side, making sure it wasn't pointing at anyone. "I'm sure that's not the case here, John." She replied softly.

John stared at Elizabeth for a few more seconds then he nodded, letting out a deep breath, he hadn't realized he was holding, and then he took a step back, putting some more space between him and Elizabeth. "Yeah…" he sighed, not knowing what else to say.

Elizabeth smiled, and then she turned back towards the little girl who was now occupied with picking flowers. Taking a deep breath, she made her way towards the little girl, crouching beside her.

"Hello there."

The little girl simply looked up; staring at Elizabeth with her big blue eyes, her blond hair shining in the sunlight then she resumed her earlier action.

"What's your name? I'm Elizabeth." She said, pointing at her chest. When the girl didn't reply, Elizabeth sighed, standing up, looking back at the two men. "She doesn't appear to understand me and if she does she simply chooses not to answer me, but I doubt that's the case here."

"Well she is only three years old. Maybe she doesn't know how to speak or something." John offered.

"Oh please, by this age she should at least know how to say her own name unless she's mentally challenged or has some disease or something." Rodney sighed, looking around, his brain going over dozens of airborne diseases they could catch just by standing there.

Elizabeth sighed. "Gentlemen, can we please not be so pessimistic all the time? She might just not—"she stopped when she felt someone tugging at her vest. She turned around and smiled widely, crouching down before the little girl once more. "Hey…" she said again.

The little girl held out her little hands full of flowers towards Elizabeth, waiting for Elizabeth to take them. When Elizabeth didn't make a move to do so, John bend down and whispered against Elizabeth's ear. "I think she wants you to take them Liz."

"Of course." Elizabeth replied, startled, taking the flowers from the girl's hands. "Thank you." She smiled widely, smelling the flowers.

The girl tilted her head to the side then she slowly brought her small index finger to her cheek, poking it then mumbling in a small, shy voice. "Helen."

"Helen. That's your name isn't it?" Elizabeth smiled, looking up at John and McKay, an excited glint in her eyes then she turned back to Helen. "Nice to meet you Helen. Can you show us the way to the village?"

Without another word, Helen turned around and took off, running into the woods, following a very well concealed pathway. Not wanting to lose track of her, Elizabeth took off running after her, John and McKay quickly catching up to her as they followed Helen to her village.

After at least ten minutes of running, Elizabeth and John came to a stop as they reached the outskirts of town with McKay remaining behind a little, obviously not in the best of shapes. Panting heavily he leaned against a tree just behind John and Elizabeth, catching his breath before saying. "God, please tell me this is the village. I think my heart will give out soon."

John looked back and rolled his eyes at Rodney. "You wouldn't be in such a bad shape if you'd train with me, Ronon and Teyla a couple of times a week, you know."

"Yeah, yeah…" Rodney waved his hand around dismissively.

"Okay, let's move in guys and remember, only take out your weapons if provoked. Understood?"

John sighed. "With all due respect Elizabeth, this isn't my first mission."

"That's true but you're known for acting before you think and that somehow always gets us into trouble."

John scoffed. "Oh yeah and thinking about the situation and sharing your feelings with the enemy is a much better tactic." He replied sarcastically then mumbled a small "Sorry," after receiving a glare from Elizabeth.

"Alright, let's get to work." Rodney said as he took out his scanner, trying to locate where the electromagnetic energy was coming from. "Okay so from what I can tell, the energy readings I'm getting are from inside the village. More like, right in the middle to be more exact." He informed Elizabeth and John, already having started to make his way into the village, completely focused on the scanner, his scientist side coming out to play.

Elizabeth and John glanced at each other amused, and then they followed Rodney into the village, both of them visually scanning the area for any danger. When they couldn't sense any immediate danger, they both relaxed and looked around, taking in the people, paying attention to their customs and beliefs, wanting to have a somewhat good understanding of their culture before meeting with their leader, if they had one.

The little blond girl, Helen, came running towards Elizabeth, giggling as usual, then she came to a stop right before her and took her hand, attempting to drag her off into the direction she came from, but badly failing with her small figure. Elizabeth looked at John and shrugged, deciding to go where ever Helen was leading her.

John watched Elizabeth and the little girl for a few moments, walking hand in hand, causing a small smile to appear on his lips. Elizabeth had always been good with children, from what John could tell. After they had brought the Athosians, Teyla's people, on Atlantis, they were relieved that they had escaped another Wraith attack; however, they were still distrustful of the humans, not knowing what would happen to them. And the children were even worse, they were crying and if someone from Atlantis tried to calm them down they'd just continue crying and go into hiding. That was until they met Elizabeth. She, with Teyla's help, convinced the Athosian parents to bring all the children in their reading lab where she planned on sitting down with them and telling them great stories of Earth and the adventures they encountered since arriving on Atlantis. And it had worked like a charm. Two hours later when John had opened the door to the reading lab, the children were all sitting quietly, mesmerized at Elizabeth's stories. It was really the first step to gain the Athosian's trust and Elizabeth did one hell of a job.

John snapped out of his thoughts, seeing a hand waving in front of his face. McKay's hand. He was still smiling, he realized. Clearing his throat John focused on McKay's face.

"What?" he asked.

"What? What do you mean what? Thanks for letting me walk off, talking to myself while you were standing here, smiling like an idiot! What were you even smiling at?" He suddenly stopped, only now realizing Elizabeth wasn't with them, he frowned, looking around. "Where's Elizabeth?"

John sighed, starting to walk into the direction Elizabeth and Helen had gone off to. "Our little friend Helen dragged Elizabeth in this direction, so I guess we're going there." He replied, squinting his eyes, trying hard to see Elizabeth and Helen far up ahead of them.

McKay looked down at his scanner, walking quickly after John. "But we're going in the wrong direction. The energy reading is coming from that way." The scientist complained, pointing at the opposite direction in which they were going.

John rolled his eyes at Rodney's impatience. "We'll get there McKay. But I have a feeling that first we have to see their leader. That's where we're probably going right now."

"Right, right. Good thinking. Maybe we can ask whoever is in charge about that energy thing. Although by the looks of it, I doubt they even know what it is or what is used for."

"Either way, we'll find soon out enough." John replied getting a nod from Rodney in response, before he was once more focused on his gadget.

After a few minutes of brisk walking, they finally caught up to Elizabeth and Helen, who were waiting for them in front of a hut. Helen ran inside and a second later a young attractive man came out, close to Elizabeth's age, maybe a little older, smiling warmly at them. "Hello. Welcome to our village. My name is Zayden, I am their leader." He spoke softly as he fixed his gaze on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiled widely, nodding a little. "It's a pleasure meeting you Zayden. My name is Elizabeth and these are my men, Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay. We come in peace from Atlantis."

Zayden's eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and shock. "The lost city of the Ancients?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's not important right now." Rodney jumped in, looking clearly frustrated that they weren't investigating what they came here for. "We came here because there's a very peculiar energy emanating from the middle of your village. We would like to go and take a look."

A look of confusion passed across Zayden's features as he listened to Rodney's words. "I can only think of one object that you could be talking about, which has been here before this village came into existence. It is what we call the mating device. I was not aware it was giving off energy. Whatever that is."

"Of course you weren't." Rodney rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did you say mating device?" John asked, incredulous.

Zayden nodded, smiling. "Yes, that's right. It helps our people choose their mate in order to live a happy life."

"And how exactly does it do that?" Elizabeth asked, unable to keep the scepticism out of her voice.

Zayden chuckled softly. "By choosing them of course. There comes a time when two people a male and a female feel the pull towards this statue. That means that the statue chose those two people who are fit to be together until death."

"What if the two people hate each other?" John asked, amused.

"That is impossible. The statue only chooses people who are meant to be together. It would not choose enemies."

"But that is ridiculous! You can't let a machine play with people's lives like that!" Rodney exclaimed.

Zayden turned to the scientist, once more looking confused. "I do not understand. Do you not have a statue like that on Atlantis? How do your people choose their mate then?"

"Oh, I don't know. We have something called free will?" Elizabeth put her hand on Rodney's shoulder in order to calm him down. Rodney scoffed and looked away.

"Could you maybe show up where this…statue is Zayden? We only wish to take a look at it." Elizabeth spoke softly, hoping Rodney's outburst didn't cause them any trouble. She was rather intrigued to see this statue herself.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure. However, I can't guarantee that it will work." Zayden replied, starting to walk towards the centre of the village where the statue was.

"Work? No…what gave you the impression that we want it to work?" Elizabeth asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I assumed you and Colonel Sheppard are…involved."

"Oh God no." Elizabeth replied nervously, casting a quick glance in John's direction.

"N-No she's…we're not...she's my boss…" John said, stuttering a little, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Ah, I see. My apologies. I was certain you two—"Before he could continue Elizabeth interrupted him, dying for a change of topic.

"So that little girl, Helen. Is she your daughter?"

Zayden nodded, smiling widely at the name of his daughter. "Yes. She doesn't really look like me does she? My wide was blond. I guess she took after her. I would love to introduce you to my wife but she passed away when she gave birth to Helen." His voice trailed off, his expression suddenly sad.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know it was an uncomfortable topic of discussion. Helen is very beautiful and she is lucky to have you as her father."

Zayden nodded, smiling. "That's very nice of your to say Elizabeth."

While Zayden and Elizabeth were talking, John remained behind with Rodney, looking around uncomfortable. "Man, I've never felt so…weird in my life." He said finally.

Rodney looked up from his gadget, looking at his friend confused. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you hear what Zayden said about Elizabeth and me?" John sighed, wondering why he even bothered talking to Rodney sometimes.

"Oh, that. Yes I did. But I mean, let's face it, it was bound to happen sooner or later." The scientist replied matter-of-factly.

"What? What do you mean by that? Nothing's happening! Or will ever happen…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever you say." Rodney replied more focused on the scanner than on what John was talking to him about.

People were all around them now, a sign that they were nearing the center of the village. Kids were running around, staring at them enthralled at seeing new faces and all the equipment they had with them. A few kids found it funny to run in circles around Rodney, causing the scientist to groan in frustration. "Oh come on! Shoo! Go play and do kiddie things!" he glared down at them, rolling his eyes when it didn't get any reaction out of the kids.

John looked at Rodney amused. "You got a real gift with kids, you know that? You'll make a wonderful father someday."

Rodney looked up and glared at John. "Oh thank you. Even I know that was—"he trailed off, his face lighting up at the same time that his scanner started making a continuous beeping noise. "We're here." He spoke, pushing the kids distractedly out of his way as he made his way to the statue, turning off his scanner and putting it away in his vest. Elizabeth cast an amused glance at John as they followed Rodney to the statue.

"Wow…" Elizabeth whispered softly.

"You can say that again." John replied, looking at the beauty surrounding the statue. Dozens of flowers of all colors were all around the statue, giving it a very romantic look. "This looks like a place where I would bring my date." John mumbled softly, taking a few steps closer towards it. There were a couple of benches around it as well, where couples could be seen talking and laughing together, probably on a date.

"I didn't know you were the romantic type Colonel." Elizabeth replied, smiling softly, following close behind John.

John smirked, walking over to the statue, touching it lightly with his fingers. "Oh well, you know. I only bring out my romantic side on special occasions."

Elizabeth's chuckled softly, walking to the right of the statue, trailing her fingers along the width of it as she made her way slowly to the other side.

Finally looking up from his gadgets, Rodney noticed John and Elizabeth talking and smiling, friendlier towards each other than what he was used to.

"Uhm guys?" he called out, taking a few steps towards them. "I wouldn't stand so close to that thing. You never know what will happen…"

John and Elizabeth stopped right behind the statue, making it impossible for Rodney to see them since the statue was rather thick.

"Hello." John spoke softly, smiling warmly at Elizabeth, holding up his hand to her face, trailing his fingers lightly over her right cheek.

"Hey…" she replied, suddenly feeling the urge to lean in. She licked her lips then, not giving it another thought, she leaned in and kissed him lightly, brushing her lips against his.

The statue started to slowly vibrate, a bright light emanating from within it. Rodney had to shield his eyes and turn away as the light got too bright. Then a second later the vibrating stopped and the bright light disappeared. Cursing softly under his breath, Rodney ran to the statue, walking around it, to see John and Elizabeth unconscious on the ground. "Damnit!" he checked for their pulses which were strong and stable then he quickly activated his headset. "Atlantis, this is Doctor McKay, please respond!"

A second later, Teyla's calm voice responded. "Doctor McKay, this is Teyla. How can we help you?"

"Sheppard and Weir are unconscious. Send a medical team on PFX-519 immediately! And get Doctor Zelenka down here as well. We're going to stay behind and investigate this thing some more. McKay out."


	2. Crossing the line

"How is she?" Rodney asked impatiently in a hushed voice, bending slightly over the bed, looking down at Elizabeth, not wanting to make too much noise but unable to keep quiet at the same time.

"For the tenth time Rodney, I can't do my work properly if you keep interrupting me." Dr. Beckett replied, frustration evident in his voice at his best friends' behaviour.

A soft groan came from behind the two men. Rodney spun around, and walked over to the other bed, leaning forward a little towards John as he opened his eyes, looking around confused. "What happened?" John asked in a small voice.

"He seems to be gaining consciousness." Rodney let Carson know, watching John closely.

"Yes, I know. Dr. Weir seems to be waking up as well." Dr. Beckett replied, checking Elizabeth's vitals, making sure everything was alright with her then going to John and doing the same thing, pushing McKay out of his way.

Elizabeth opened her eyes slowly, looking around the infirmary at all the figures busily walking around and in front of her bed. "What happened? Where am I?"

Dr. Beckett walked over to her bed, putting his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, preventing her from sitting up. "Take it easy, love. It seems you've had a bit of an accident with the statue you were investigating. But you're all good now."

"John? What about him? Is he alright?" Elizabeth asked, her voice sounding anxious.

"I'm here." John replied from the bed next to her, holding up his hand, his voice a little hoarse.

Elizabeth let out a relieved breath, nodding a little, leaning back against her pillow.

**I would feel better if I could have a cold drink and a really hot babe on my lap right now. **

Elizabeth scoffed, rolling her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm glad to see that your humour is still present. But next time, how about you keep those little personal details to yourself, John?" she asked in a small voice, not bothering with formalities at the moment.

"W-What are you talking about?" John asked, sitting up in his bed, staring weirdly at Elizabeth.

Rodney and Carson glanced at each other worriedly then turned back at Elizabeth. "Yes, Elizabeth. What are you talking about? Colonel Sheppard didn't say anything." Dr. Becket said, taking a few steps towards her bed.

"N-No, no, no. He just made a comment about how he would feel better if he had a cold drink and a hot babe on his lap!" Elizabeth sat up on her bed, glaring at the three men, hoping this was no joke because she wasn't finding this amusing at all.

"Yeah but, I didn't say that out loud! I was thinking it!" John responded, looking at them anxiously.

Elizabeth's alarmed gaze turned to Rodney. "Rodney? Please tell me this isn't one of the side effects of that statue…"

Rodney's face paled visibly then he nodded a little. "I-It might be. I'm not sure how it works yet. I might have to go back with Zelen—"

"Can someone please tell me what the hell you're talking about?" John asked, starting to get angry. He hated not knowing what the hell was going on, especially when it had something to do with him.

Rodney turned to John, pausing a little, realizing he must be careful with his choice of wording at the moment. "Zayden said that the statue chooses two people destined to be together. Now, when you and Elizabeth wandered so close to that thing, even though I told you not to… I mean, you knew what would happen if you got too close to it. Why would you—"

"Rodney…" Elizabeth spoke up, interrupting him. She couldn't stand getting lectured by her top scientist right now. It's not like she didn't know they made a stupid, stupid mistake.

"Right, right. As I as saying, the closer you get to that statue the better it got a reading off of you. You know, it read your desires, wants, what have you."

John turned towards Elizabeth, raising an eyebrow at her, smirking a little, remembering the kiss they shared right before everything went dark. **Elizabeth? **He asked, trying out his new ability.

**It was the statue, John. Don't let it get to your head. And if I remember correctly, you kissed back.** Elizabeth responded, shaking her head just a little, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

John cleared his throat awkwardly, looking away as he scratched the back of his head. Rodney looked at Carson, who simply shrugged, not knowing what was happening any more than he did. "W-What's happening? Are you guys talking in your head or something?" Rodney asked, sounding more excited than he should be at the thought.

"It's nothing important. Just…please continue Rodney." Elizabeth sighed, rubbing her temples, feeling a headache forming.

"As you wish…" Rodney replied, looking rather disappointed at Elizabeth's unwillingness to talk about her new ability. "Once that statue read both of your desires, wants, whatever…well…I'm still not sure yet but I think that's when the ground started shaking and the bright light came out of the thing. And from what Zelenka and I discovered, well it was mostly me since all that man did was swear and mumble all the ti—"a sharp poke to his side stopped him midsentence. He turned around and glared at Carson. "Ouch!"

Carson rolled his eyes, smiling a little. "Focus Rodney."

"Right, okay. Well from what I've been able to figure out so far, that energy pulse emanating from the statue affects your brain chemistry, somehow giving you and all the other people affected by it the ability to speak telepathically in order to…bond your body, mind and soul, since you're…well, soul mates." The scientist finished off awkwardly. "Okay, that felt weird to say." He cleared his throat, looking over to Carson, who nodded in sympathy.

John flinched at that word, passing a hand over his face, feeling suddenly very tired. "Okay, how about we just stop using the words "soul mate", "bonding", or even "mating"? It's really starting to creep me out."

Elizabeth sighed, looking down at her lap, wondering how to best respond to this situation. In all her years of training, she never would have thought she'd ever find herself in such a situation and especially not with her second in command. Out of all the men on Atlantis and even PFX-519, why did it have to be John? Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Rodney, looking more calm and confident then she really felt. "Can you fix this Rodney?"

"Of course I can fix it. I think…" he trailed off uneasily.

"You don't sound so sure about that…" Elizabeth replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Look, I just need more time. I have nothing of use so far and we've been there for hours now, trying to figure it out but for the life of me, I just…can't. It's very peculiar. We haven't even been able to pinpoint the exact location of the energy source. We know it's coming from within the statue but when we tried breaking off a piece…well, it was just pure, hard rock. However, Zelenka is now running some tests on the sample we took and we'll see where that takes us." He sighed, taking out his tablet, looking over the useless data they had so far. He shut it off a few seconds later, looking troubled. This was obviously bothering him more than he was letting on.

**Maybe you should…encourage him or something. **Elizabeth turned to look over at John with a slightly raised eyebrow, for the first time, trying out her new telepathic powers.

**Why me? You know I'm not good at this sort of thing.**

**He's your friend…**

**He's your friend too! **John sent Elizabeth a mental pout causing Elizabeth to chuckle softly before she could stop herself.

**Yes, but I'm also his boss, John. If the encouragement comes from someone closer to him, it'll boost up his ego even more and we need that ego boosted up if we want to get out of this as soon as possible. **

John sighed, nodding a little, knowing Elizabeth was right.

Finally noticing the sudden silence between them, Rodney looked up, frowning, looking from Elizabeth to John, suspiciously. "Why has it gotten so quiet around here? You're talking among yourselves again, aren't you?"

Rolling his eyes, John responded, trying to sound optimistic. "Don't worry about this whole thing Rodney. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. You are the smartest scientist on Atlantis after all."

**Good enough? ** He asked, not looking in Elizabeth's direction, not wanting to give Rodney any more reason to get excited.

**It'll have to do.**

**You'll pay for that. **John rolled his eyes.

**Oh really? And how do you intend to make me pay?**

**I don't know, I'll think of something. I am in your head after all. My ability to annoy you just went up a couple of notches. **

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at that then she replied in a playful tone. **Bring it on. Just remember, I give as well as I get. **

Carson, who left them alone for a few minutes to check up on a patient, came back a couple of moments later and having eavesdropped on the conversation, he made his way towards John, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Dear God, Colonel Sheppard. What are you trying to do? Kill us all? You know if you tell Rodney just how smart he is, it'll only come back later and bite ya in yer ass." The kind and highly amused Scottish doctor patted Rodney's back, winking at John as he was called back to his duties.

Ignoring his best friends' comment, Rodney's whole face lit up at John's words. "Thank you, John... Anyway, I'll be going now. I've got a lot of work to do." He replied, sounding once more like their old top scientist Rodney McKay, and then he turned around and started making his way out of the infirmary. John chuckled, amazed at how little it took to get Rodney back on track.

Right before exiting the infirmary, Rodney spun around, looking at Elizabeth. "Ah Elizabeth, I almost forgot. I arranged for a team to go down with me and Zelenka on Loveville. I talked about it with Teyla, since you were…unconscious…" he looked at her uncomfortable.

Elizabeth nodded, smiling reassuringly. "Sounds good, Rodney. Just be careful. We still don't know the full power of that statue."

Rodney turned to leave, looking more at ease then stopped short when John called out after him. "Wait a second. Did you just say Loveville? Who the hell named it that?"

Rodney rolled his eyes, once more turning to face a very disturbed John. "I did. What? You don't like it?

"No! It sounds stupid!"

"It's a village full of soul mates that live their life happily ever after. Do you have a better name for it?"

"Yes! Anything but Loveville! I'm sure the Ancients had a better name for that poor village!"

"Well they didn't, John. So it'll just have to stick. Now excuse me but people around here have work to do!" McKay exclaimed then turned around, making his way out of the infirmary quickly not giving John any chance to call him back.

'Loveville…'John scoffed, shaking his head.

**Just let it go, John. ** Elizabeth replied, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

Before John could reply, Dr. Beckett appeared again, smiling widely. "How are you two feeling?"

"Great! I'm ready to get out of here any time..." John replied, enthusiastically.

"Easy there, tiger. I'm afraid I can't do that just yet. I mean you both seem perfectly fine but I would like to keep you overnight for observation. You know, just as a precaution."

John rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, once again, leaning back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. After talking for a few more minutes with Elizabeth, Carson finally left the infirmary, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since they woke up.

John and Elizabeth looked at each other, both smiling awkwardly. After a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence, Elizabeth sighed, unable to stand the awkwardness between the two of them. Wanting to distract herself, she took her own tablet from the small table next to her bed and opened up a new game of solitaire.

**Hey now, that's not fair. I never got one of those. **

**When I offered you one, a week later after we arrived on Atlantis, you politely declined, saying that you don't need some machine helping you organize your schedule. **

**And I still don't, but now I wanna play too. **

**John Sheppard, I swear you're just like a five year old sometimes. **Elizabeth chuckled softly, glancing at John amused.

**Hey, you're the one who doesn't wanna share her toys with me. **

Sighing heavily, Elizabeth rolled her eyes then she sat up in her bed, crossing her legs under her and placed the tablet down on the bed before her then she turned and looked over at John, patting the empty space before her.

John smiled widely as he got out of his bed and quickly climbed onto hers, crossing his legs under his body. Elizabeth looked around; a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, hoping no one was watching them. Clearing her throat, she switched the table so it was now facing John then looked up at him.

"Do you know how to play solitaire?"

**Of course. You're talking to the master of solitaire here. **John replied, choosing the more intimate way of communication.

Elizabeth chucked softly, looking rather intrigued at that. "Oh really? Then how come that after all this time that we've been on Atlantis; I've never once seen you play it?"

**Well, I have been quite busy killing and fighting Wraith… **

"Ah, I see. You do realize you can't use that as an excuse for everything, right?"

John looked up and Elizabeth and smiled, then shrugged. **Yes, but that doesn't mean that I can't try. **

Elizabeth smiled back then looked down at the tablet, an idea coming to her. "Care to make this interesting?"

**Do you really need to ask? **

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and then she scooted over closer to John, the tablet still between them. "Alright, how about we make a game out of this? The first person to win 5 rounds of solitaire consecutively wins the game and the other person has to do whatever the winner wants."

John grinned, nodding, feeling rather excited. **Well, well Elizabeth. It seems you do know how to have fun.**

"I'm hurt you thought otherwise. Okay, you start. Let's see what you got, mister." She replied, her voice playful. She looked around, thankful that no one was around to see her like this, with her guard down all relaxed and smiling. She looked over at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was past midnight already yet she didn't feel tired at all. She turned and looked back at John, smiling as she saw him concentrate on the game. She shook her head, chuckling softly, fighting the urge to reach over and ruffle his hair.

After three lost games, John leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest and glared down at the tablet. "This isn't a fair game." He pouted childishly.

Elizabeth looked up, raising an eyebrow at him. "Oh really? And why's that?"

"Your tablet doesn't like me." He nodded a couple of times.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes then she looked at John amused. "You're a really bad loser aren't you? It seems that you're not quite as good at solitaire as you thought you were."

John rolled his eyes, clearly not finding any of this funny. "Okay, whatever, so you obviously win. What is your wish? Do you want me to leave you alone? Never enter your mind again? Cause that's kinda impossible. You have a really interesting mind, you know."

Elizabeth looked down; playing with her hands nervously then she shrugged and looked up at John. "I'm going to let you choose what you want us to do. How does that sound?"

Surprise spread across John's features, not having expected that from Elizabeth. He was sure she was going to send him to bed or order him to be quiet or something, but not that. Being taken by surprised, John didn't know what to say at first so he simply nodded stupidly, trying to think or something. He thought of demanding that she give him her tablet for the rest of the night, but then looking up at her face, he knew he couldn't let a chance like this go to waste. "I want us to go take a walk on the deck. It should be nice and cool outside." He said finally, smiling a little.

"A-A walk…?" Elizabeth asked surprised. She was so sure he was going to ask for the tablet or something else, more outrageous.

"Yeah, we've been stuck in this infirmary for hours now. I need a breath of fresh air…" he replied.

"But Beckett told us to stay here John." She said.

"Elizabeth…no one else is awake but us. The whole city is sleeping. Have you ever been outside on the deck during the night? I think you'll enjoy it."

Elizabeth sighed, slowly getting out of bed; she quickly grabbed her robe, looking away from John shyly. John chuckled softly, shaking his head. He quickly put on his shoes then he turned to look at Elizabeth, smiling at how adorable and cuddly she looked in her pajamas and robe with her slippers.

**Cuddly, John? Really? **Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as she walked past John out of the infirmary, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

John closed his eyes, kicking himself mentally then he followed her out, biting on his lower lip nervously. "I forgot you can read my thoughts…"

She shrugged as they continued walking towards the deck, liking how quiet it was on Atlantis. "You could try filtering your thoughts?"

"But wouldn't that just be, hiding the truth from you?" John asked, confused.

"It's not really hiding if I wasn't supposed to hear it in the first place, John."

"Yeah but still…I don't wanna do that. It would defeat the whole purpose of this…let's call it experiment."

Elizabeth looked sideways at John, raising an eyebrow at him. "Experiment? What in the world are you talking about?" she asked him as he led her into the right direction to the deck where he and Ronon sometimes spent time drinking beer in their free time.

Once they arrived, John passed his hand over the light blue crystals causing the door to open before then, giving them access to a small deck overlooking the sea surrounding them.

Elizabeth walked outside on the deck, sitting down on the small bench situated in the middle of it. It was barely long enough to fit two people, she noticed as John sat down beside her, his thigh brushing against hers, sending a shiver down her spine.

Oblivious to the way he was making her feel, John looked out at the sea, sighing heavily. "I think that someone is behind this Liz. Someone from _Loveville_." He pronounced the word, sounding disgusted. "Why else would that statue work on us? I'm sorry but I'm incapable of believing that all this is Cupid's work, who decided to just bring two random people together."

Elizabeth frowned. "But we weren't just two random people. We were there to investigate it, John. Maybe, we just triggered its defense mechanism or something.

John looked at her, frowning. "With all due respect Elizabeth, that makes absolutely no sense."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Yeah and your theory is much better. I think it is better if we leave this to the scientists." She mumbled under her breath, tightening her robe around her as the night breeze caressed her face.

John nodded, silently agreeing with her. After they sat in a few moments of comfortable silence, John turned towards Elizabeth, a small frown appearing on his face. "Why did you stop speaking telepathically with me?"

"Because it's foolish to do so if we're next to each other and alone in the room, don't you think so?" She asked, looking up at him.

John shook his head, biting on his lower lip, bringing Elizabeth's attention down to his lips. "Not really. I liked talking to you telepathically. We seemed to be much closer that way. I like knowing that you're the only person who knows what I'm saying." He shrugged, looking away, realizing how lame that must have sounded.

Elizabeth nodded, knowing exactly what John meant. She liked that feeling of closeness she got from talking to him through telepathy but she knew that if she didn't stop now or at least keeps it under control while she still could, when all this would be over, it would just be that much harder on her.

She sighed, chuckling lightly. "John, you're my second in command." She turned to look at him sideways. "How much closer do you wish to be?" She asked, quickly realizing the mistake she committed by asking that question.

**Much, much closer, Elizabeth. ** He responded in her mind, his voice barely above a whisper.

Elizabeth sucked in her breath as John slowly leaned in closer towards her. She tried to move but found herself unable to as she sat there mesmerized, watching him getting closer and closer. Her heart started pounding against her chest, making it harder and harder for her to breathe. "John…" she whispered softly when his lips were lightly brushing against hers.

Not giving her any chance to react, John slipped an arm around her waist, crushing her upper body against his own as he captured her lips in a hot and passionate kiss.

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck, letting out a small moan against his lips as she kissed him back just as passionately, their tongues duelling for control.

A few seconds later, the door behind them opened, revealing a very large and tall figure standing there. Elizabeth forced herself away from John's mouth, jumping to her feet, looking down at John, breathing heavily. Remembering why she broke off the kiss, she looked towards the open door, all the color draining from her face as she saw Ronon standing there, frozen, too shocked to move. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you…were…here…"Ronon spoke slowly, not really knowing what to say.

Elizabeth swallowed hard then she looked up at Ronon, trying to hold onto the little dignity she still possessed and forced a smile. "Don't worry about it. I was leaving anyways. Goodnight." Without another glance at John, she ran back inside, wanting to put as much distance between herself and John as possible.

John stood up, looking at Ronon who was simply staring at him, waiting for him to speak first. Cursing softly under his breath, he ran past Ronon after Elizabeth, leaving the man alone on the deck.

"Elizabeth! Wait!" John called out after her. He tried using their telepathic link but she had blocked him out.

Elizabeth stopped right outside her room, turning around to glare at him. "Not now John. I just…can't talk about this right now."

"Liz, just let me explain…" John sighed, taking a few steps closer to her.

"Stop calling me that! And don't you think you've done enough? I knew you'd want to try and cross the line sooner or later but I thought you were smarter and more mature than that."

"Why are you so mad, exactly? Is it because I crossed a line I shouldn't have, or because you enjoyed it more than you think you should?"

Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look more confident and in control than she really felt. "I don't have to explain myself to you, John. We are not to speak of this again. Do we understand each other?"

John bit the inside of his cheek to keep a rude comment from leaving his mouth. He finally nodded, looking away from Elizabeth. "Yes ma'am."

Elizabeth nodded then she opened her door and walked inside her room without a backward glance, leaving John alone in the hallway, looking more defeated and hurt then he would ever admit.


	3. Addicted Part I

"You saw them kissing?" Teyla asked in a hushed but surprised voice, leaning a little across the table, making sure no one else heard them.

Ronon nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich, grinning mischievously. "Elizabeth really looked like she was enjoying herself too much in my opinion."

Teyla raised an eyebrow at that. "Did she? Well this is a very interesting turn of events. Do you think them kissing has anything to do with their new found ability to communicate telepathically with one another?"

Ronon shrugged. "I don't know and I really don't care. I'm just glad it happened already. All that tension between them was starting to drive me nuts."

"All that tension between whom?" Rodney jumped in as he grabbed a chair, putting his tray on the table, joining them.

Teyla glanced at Ronon, knowing she must be careful with how she phrased this. "The tension between Elizabeth and Colonel Sheppard."

"Oh? Well of course there's tension between the two of them. They are probably the most important people here on Atlantis. Well, after me of course. We all know that without my genius we would have probably died a terrible and mortifying death more than once…." He replied distracted as he started eating his pancakes, something he rarely got to do since they only served it a couple of times a month.

"That's funny because you just made THAT sound more pleasant than having to sit here and listen to you brag about yourself." Ronon replied, glaring a little at Rodney. He was sick of how things always seemed to revolve around the great doctor McKay whenever he was around.

Teyla kicked Ronon under the table rather harshly, causing him to glare at her. "What was that for?" Not bothering to reply to Ronon's question, Teyla turned her attention to Rodney who seemed to be too distracted with his food to notice the insult Ronon just threw at him. She knew Rodney could get a little cocky sometimes. Okay, most of the time, but that didn't mean he wasn't right. In fact, she was sure he saved Atlantis's ass and all the people living on it more times then she could count but of course, him being Rodney, never really got any credit, not the way he deserved.

"We were not talking about professional tension between them Rodney. We…were talking about tension on a more…personal level." She said, smiling as she looked at him, ignoring the glare she caught from Ronon, as she watched him from the corners of her eyes.

"Ah, I see…" he mumbled distracted, continuing to munch on his pancake then he suddenly stopped, looking up from his plate at Teyla, only now realizing what she had said. "P-Personal…wait, what do you mean by that? Did something happen that I don't know about?"

"Lots of things happen around you that you're just too clueless and oblivious to notice, Doctor." Ronon said, making sure to avoid any eye contact with Teyla, already knowing what she would think of his comment.

Teyla fought hard against the urge to kick Ronon under the table once more. She didn't know what had gotten into him. Lately, whenever McKay was around, Ronon simply turned in this edgy, grumpy, menopausal man and she just didn't know how to respond to that side of him since she was more used to the controlled and composed Ronon.

Rodney dismissively waved a hand in front of Ronon's face. "Shush, stop distracting me. I want to know what happened between Elizabeth and John." He turned his full attention on Teyla, looking at her expectantly.

Teyla looked over at Ronon, and could easily see that he was reaching a higher level of annoyance and disgust towards a single person than she'd ever seen from him. "Ronon…" she spoke softly and carefully, drawing his attention back to her. The moment his eyes locked on hers, she shook her head slowly, telling him with her eyes that he wasn't worth getting angry over, since she knew Ronon could snap any second and cut Rodney into little pieces then feed him to the whales.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, Ronon unclenched his fists, not taking his eyes off of Teyla then he gave her a small nod, showing her and telling her that he had his temper under control.

Satisfied that Ronon was finally listening to her for once, even if it was on a topic such as this, she turned her attention back to Rodney, trying to remember what they had been talking about. She wouldn't have to be put in such position if Rodney could just keep his mouth shut once in a while, she thought to herself bitterly. That's all it took really. Sighing heavily, she shook her head, trying to refocus her thoughts on the current topic of conversation which apparently highly interested Rodney.

"Well it appears that Ronon found Elizabeth and John in a rather compromising situation last night…" she said finally, praying she wouldn't regret her choice of confiding in Rodney.

Rodney's face paled visibly, his features giving away the emotions the doctor went through as he was processing the information. At first, it appeared to be dread, then shock and then later came a feeling of satisfaction that Teyla just didn't know what was doing there.

Clearing his throat, Rodney leaned in closer towards Teyla. "You mean caveman here caught them doing…it?"

"Rodney!" Teyla called out outraged, but unable to keep a faint blush from spreading from her cheeks down to her neck.

"What? It's your fault for not telling me straight out what they did so I just assumed!" He scoffed, looking away, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I saw them kiss, alright? Happy now? They were not doing "IT" they were simply, making out. And since when do you call me 'caveman'?" Ronon said with a rough sounding and chilling voice.

Rodney thought about it for a few moments then shrugged, looking more pleased then he should, not in the least threatened by Ronon. "Well, I'm not sad…" he couldn't keep the smirk from showing on his face, as he chose to ignore Ronon's other question.

Teyla eyed him suspiciously. "W-Why are you smiling like that? I do not trust that look you have on your face right now."

Rodney shrugged nonchalantly, taking his sweet time as he took a sip of his water, wanting to keep them both on the edge for a little longer.

Not in the mood to take any of Rodney's games at the moment, Ronon banged his hand on the table causing McKay to jump back in his chair and the whole cafeteria to go quiet, everyone's gaze now pinned on them, wondering what was going on. Teyla looked around at all the anxious faces then she flashed them a reassuring smile. "Everything is good. Do not worry, we are all friends here…" her voice trailed off, sighing a little, glaring up at Ronon exasperatedly.

"Just spill it McKay." Ronon said, staring intensely at Rodney, knowing that it would make him even more uncomfortable then he already was.

Rodney looked at Ronon confused. "What's wrong with you? You've never acted so…out of control before…I mean, I know I drive you guys crazy sometimes but you're mad at me. Why?"

An emotionless smile suddenly appeared on Ronon's face. "Do you really want everyone to know what happened between you and Carson? "He asked in a low voice, leaning in incredibly close to Rodney so only the two them could hear the conversation.

Rodney's face paled visibly; however, he stood his ground, shrugging. "I don't see how that's any of your business Ronon."

Ronon growled softly, causing Rodney to lean back and away from him a little then the scientist looked over at Teyla. Her presence was the only thing keeping McKay on that chair. He knew Ronon would do nothing to hurt him but he couldn't help but feel intimidated by him at times, especially right now.

"It is my business when Carson is so mad and depressed that he felt he could confide in no one else but me. And you are supposed to be his best friend, Rodney."

"Guys? What is going on?" Teyla asked, watching the two men suspiciously. She really did not understand the strange behaviour of Ronon this morning and she was certain she didn't want to either.

Rodney looked away from Ronon, making sure to mask his emotions, not wanting to give away the shame and guilt he felt concerning his actions towards Carson. He looked over at Teyla and smiled as best as he could, although it did not reach his eyes. "Nothing to worry about. Now, where were we? Oh yes, John and Elizabeth. Well, as you might know, I've been trying to convince Elizabeth to let me do some slightly dangerous experiments which could benefit us greatly but so far, I had no success. Now, Sheppard is so much easier to manipulate and if what Ronon said is true, then I just thought that I should start focusing my attention on John rather than on Elizabeth. Once I convince John that my experiments are beneficial to us all, my rate of success to get Elizabeth to agree with us is much, much higher. "Rodney smiled a little after he finished explaining his plan, although the excitement they saw earlier had disappeared from his features and was replaced by an emotion that Teyla could just not identify at the moment. She looked over at Ronon, but he appeared to be focusing once more on his food, paying no attention whatsoever to Rodney or his so called plan. Teyla sighed, hating the fact that she didn't really know what was going on. Ever since they had visited PFX-519 everything seemed to just go wrong.

"I understand your plan Rodney, even though I do not agree with it, but you have to take into account their current relationship. By what Ronon has told me, Elizabeth did not seem so pleased after the kiss, so their relationship might not be in the best of terms right now."

"Oh no, she was pleased. More than pleased. Her face was flushed, she was breathing rapidly, and you know, all that stuff. Heck, if I had not walked in, I don't think they would have stopped at just kissing." Ronon replied, looking at Teyla, a small smirk playing on his lips.

Teyla rolled her eyes, shaking her head slowly. "I still do not think it is a good idea."

"Regardless, I think it's still worth a try…"

All their headsets activated at once, causing all of them to jump in surprise at the sudden noise in their ear. "Dr McKay, Teyla and Ronon, this is Dr. Weir, I just wanted to let you know that we will debrief in one hour."

Rodney jumped in. "Oh you mean about PFX-519, right?"

"Yes, Rodney. What else could I be talking about?" Elizabeth snapped then after a moment of silence while she took in a calming breath, she spoke again, he voice more soft. "I want you all here within the hour, understood?"

"Yes Elizabeth." Rodney and Ronon replied.

"We will be there Dr. Weir. Has Colonel Sheppard been notified of this meeting?" Teyla asked, trying to read as much as possible from Elizabeth's tone of voice, but besides, stress and exhaustion, she couldn't tell if there was anything wrong or if something else was bothering her.

After another moment of silence Elizabeth's voice came through the headsets again. "No he has not. I would appreciate if you could let him know."

"As you wish Dr. Weir." Teyla replied as he glanced around the table. She did not have a good feeling about this.

"Thank you Teyla. Weir out." Elizabeth replied, then a moment later, she was gone.

"Well, so much for my plan…" Rodney replied, sounding defeated.

"I wonder what happened… I could have sworn they both enjoyed it." Ronon sighed, frowning.

"What do you think happened? The kiss obviously affected their relationship and not in a good way. Damn Sheppard, he screwed up again." Rodney grumbled, staring down at the table, annoyed. "Although I'm not surprised, really. It doesn't matter if they both enjoyed it or not. A Station Commander cannot have a relationship with anyone on the base, especially Sheppard, since her emotions could affect her judgement and all that crap."

"I am sure they will work around this somehow." Teyla replied, smiling, trying to stay and think positive.

Ronon and Rodney looked at each other then they turned to her. "Right…" they replied at the same time, not sounding convinced at all.

"Good mornin' everyone!" A voice called out to them, causing all of them to turn around, even though McKay recognized the voice pretty well.

Teyla and Ronon smiled as they saw Carson walking towards them, with a tray full of food. "Good morning Dr. Beckett, please, join us."

"That's what I intended, love." Carson replied, stopping in front of the table. He looked around the table and saw two empty chairs. One was next to Rodney and the other opposite of Ronon. Carson turned to Rodney, who was looking down at the table, suddenly finding it incredibly fascinating. He noticed his best friend's body was tense and he looked uncomfortable. Carson sighed a little, walking over to the right side of the table, sitting down opposite of Ronon.

Seeing as they were quieter today than normal, Carson frowned, looking around the table. "What happened? Why do ye all look so gloomy this morning?"

Teyla flashed the doctor an uneasy smile. "There might be some…conflict between Elizabeth and John…"

"Oh don't even remind me of those two. I told them to stay in the infirmary all night and what did they do? They took off!" he exclaimed, shaking his head, clearly frustrated at his friend's behaviour.

"Knowing Colonel Sheppard, I am sure he only wanted to take a walk. You know he cannot stay in one place for too long." Teyla replied, quickly coming to John's defense.

"Don't ye think I know that, love? However, they could have left a note that they were not returning or something. I was scared out of my mind in the morning when they weren't there. I didn't know what happened to them and no one saw them leave either. They alright aren't they?" the doctor asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

Ronon, Teyla and McKay shared an uncomfortable look then Teyla taking the initiative once more, nodded, smiling reassuringly at the poor doc. "Yes, I am sure they are. We all spoke with Elizabeth this morning and we were going to look for John in a few minutes."

"Ye know, I'm not so sure they should be up and running all over Atlantis yet. We still don't know what the effects of that telepathy might have on them. They should be under continuous supervision until we find out more."

"We already saw some of the effects…" McKay snorted, mumbling softly under his breath.

"You just can't keep your mouth shut can you?" Ronon growled softly, glaring at McKay.

Carson's head snapped up from his food, looking around at them confused. "What are ye talking about?" He waited a few seconds but when McKay still made no eye contact or even acknowledged Carson's presence, the doctor sighed and focused on the other two at the table. "What is Rodney talking about Teyla? If there is something that I should know, please tell me!" he pushed away his food, already having lost his appetite and not just because of this thing with Elizabeth and John either but having Rodney clearly ignore him like that in public…well, it really got to him. But he didn't have time for that now. If Rodney wanted to behave like a child so be it.

Teyla sighed, noticing Rodney behave in the strangest of ways. There was obviously something wrong here. Shaking her head she turned to Carson. "Nothing medical related happened Dr. Becket…"

"Oh thank god…" he sighed, relieved then raised an eyebrow at Teyla. "So what happened then?"

Teyla looked at Ronon, who gave her a small nod before continuing. "Ronon caught John and Elizabeth kissing last night on one of the decks."

"Oh! That's nothing, love. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Carson grabbed his plate, smiling a little as he started to eat.

"That what I said doc…" Ronon looked at Carson, smiling widely.

"Did ye, now? Well it is true, ye know. All that tension…And John might be going around and having flings with anyone but I can really only see one person who's really right for him and that's Elizabeth. She knows how to put him in his place." Carson shook his head, chuckling softly.

Ronon nodded, watching the doc closely. "We really should go and look for Colonel Sheppard. The meeting in is less than twenty minutes." Teyla said, checking her watch.

"Right, right…" Rodney mumbled as he sat up, grabbing his tray.

Ronon sat up and looked at the doc. "So doc, I will see you tonight right?" he nodded his head a little, telling the doc to play along.

Carson smiled and nodded. "Yeap, yer're coming to the infirmary first aren't ye?"

Ronon nodded, grinning. "Yeah."

Rodney froze and looked up at the two men, fixing his eyes on Carson for the first time since THAT day. "Y-You guys are going out? Where?"

"Oh doc just wanted me to go fishing him. You know, like he asked you a million times but you kept refusing so he asked me instead." Ronon shrugged then he grabbed his empty tray and walked away from the table, grinning widely. _That should teach Rodney a lesson. _He thought.

Teyla sighed, sitting up as well then she touched Rodney's arm to get his attention. Rodney looked down at her, not really seeing her. "What?" he asked, sounding annoyed?

"We are going to look for Colonel Sheppard. The meeting is in fifteen minutes. Do not be late." With that, she turned to look at Carson, smiling at him then she walked away from the tabled, joining a very happy Ronon.

"You are going fishing with Doctor Beckett?" Teyla asked, confused when she caught up to him.

"No, I just wanted Rodney to believe that I and the doctor will be going fishing." He replied, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

Teyla looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Can you please tell me what is going on here? I am extremely confused."

Ronon shrugged. "Later. Let's go look for John now. I think I have an idea of where he is."

Teyla nodded, smiling a little. "Lead the way."

Back at the table, Rodney stood there awkwardly, wondering how to leave without hurting Carson's feelings. Well, it might already be too late for that, but for the life of him he just couldn't think of an excuse to get the hell away from there. "So you're going finishing with Ronon." He stated lamely, unable to keep quiet about it.

Carson, not looking up from his tray, nodded. "Yes, I am. Why?"

Rodney shrugged. "No reason. I just thought that was an activity you only shared with your best friend, which is me not Ronon." He replied, sitting back down with his arms crossed across his chest. He didn't know what he was doing. Was Ronon taking his place? Was he no longer Carson's best friend? Well, that might be possible since the last couple of weeks have been really awkward between them. And Rodney knew it was mostly his fault but he just didn't know how else to deal with what happened.

Carson looked up, sighing. "Rodney, ye've been ignoring me for weeks now. I'm not going to just sit here and sulk because my best friend is a chicken who can't own up to his actions. Ronon is my friend and we're going finishing. Besides what do ye care? Ye hate finishing, remember?"

"I don't hate fish-"Rodney started but was soon interrupted by Carson who was holding his hand with the fork in it up.

"Don't lie to me Rodney. And it's okay, really. Ye're still my friend but now I will be fishing with Ronon. At least I don't have to beg with that lad. He's mature enough to know some manners." Carson sat up, taking the tray with the half eaten food and started to walk away.

Rodney sat up and followed closely behind. "So what? You like him better, is that it?"

After throwing away the food and putting the tray away, Carson turned and glared at Rodney. 'No I don't like him better than ye Rodney! I don't understand what ye want from me, love." He froze as he noticed the word slipping out of his mouth. Clearing his throat, he looked away sighing. "Last time we got too close to each other ye freaked out on me and ignored me for weeks! So I'm moving on now. Just let it be. It's better for everyone." He sighed, shaking his head, and then he turned around and walked out of the cafeteria quickly.

Rodney simply stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say or do to make Carson understand his point of view in all this. He had forced himself on the poor Scot! Why couldn't he just see that? And why the hell wasn't he mad? He was just trying to make everything go back to the way it was, but he only now realized that might not be possible. He sighed, cursing softly under his breath. He never should have drunk that stupid blue liquid. If he hadn't he'd still have a best friend and he wouldn't feel like the biggest jackass and loser on Atlantis and possibly the whole Pegasus galaxy.

Rodney sighed, realizing he was still standing in the middle of the cafeteria where Carson had left him. Forcing his legs to work, he made his way out of there, heading towards his lab to take his notes that he'll be needing for the briefing. He looked down at his watch and sighed. Ten more minutes. He made his way to the transporter, for the first time not feeling up to sitting through a meeting, especially if Ronon was there.

Teyla and Ronon kept walking side by side. Teyla looked around, frowning. "Where are we going?"

"To find Sheppard." Ronon replied, looking down at her.

"Yes, but I have never been here before."

Ronon smiled. "I know… this is the way leading to the deck where it all happened."

Teyla frowned. "What makes you think he is going to be there?"

Ronon shrugged. "He's really not that complex Teyla. He'll want to be in a place that no one really knows about and that is it. I'd probably do the same if I were him."

Teyla looked up at Ronon as they stopped before the door, leading out to the deck, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's good to know. "

Ronon chuckled softly, turning a little towards her. "Oh don't worry. I never get in these situations when it comes to girls or relationships."

"Oh really? Well what about me then?" she teased, biting on her lower lip.

Ronon watched how her teeth sank into her lower lip then he quickly looked away, clearing his throat. "We should go or we're going to be late." He mumbled before waving his hand in front of the light blue crystals opening the door to the deck, revealing John, sitting on the same bench as last night, staring aimlessly at the sea surrounding them.

As soon as John heard the door slide open, he sat up; his heart pounding hard in his chest, thinking it was Elizabeth, coming to talk to him, although he knew his chances were slim. His whole face fell when he saw Ronon and Teyla stepping onto the deck. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked more exhausted than ever.

"Colonel, are you alright?" Teyla asked, taking a step forward.

"Of course I am." John replied, frowning a little as he looked at his two friends, unaware of how bad and tired he looked. "Just, you know, a tad tired…"

"We can tell. John maybe you should go lay down…" Ronon said, watching John closely. He had never seen him like this. Sure he was just tired but he looked like hell.

John shook his head, sitting back down on the bed, resting his head in his hands. "Can't sleep. She disconnected herself from me." He mumbled in a small voice.

Ronon and Teyla shared a worried look. "You mean Elizabeth?"

"Of course I mean Elizabeth. Who else is telepathically linked to me that I don't know about?" John snapped, glaring at Teyla.

Ronon took another step toward him. "There's no need for that tone of voice Sheppard."

Teyla put her arm of Ronon's, smiling at him reassuringly. "It's okay Ronon. He's not himself right now."

"You don't understand. I've been living with a sense of dread all night. I can't sleep, I can't eat. I know Elizabeth is alright because I saw her in the hallways, but whenever my mind tries to link itself to hers, it finds nothing because she blocked me out! And then I get this incredible feeling of grief and desperation coming over me. This place is the only thing that's keeping me sane right now."

Teyla looked up at Ronon who simply shrugged. He was at a loss of words. They have been linked telepathically for what? Less than twenty-four hours? But the condition John was in really scared him.

"We have a meeting in a few minutes. We came to get you." Ronon said, ignoring the shocked expression on Teyla's face.

John looked up frowning. "I wasn't notified of it. When did you guys find out?"

"About an hour ago. Elizabeth asked us to let you know." Ronon replied.

"Well I don't want to go. I'm staying here." John replied indignantly. "She probably doesn't even want me there."

Teyla sighed. "I am sure that is not the case Colonel. If this is affecting you like this, think of how it must be affecting her. I am not lying to you John. She did not sound like herself when we talked to her. Maybe if you are in the same room as her, it will lessen the pain and any other feelings you might be feeling right now."

John sighed, knowing Teyla was right. He stood up and looked at them, smiling. Teyla flinched. "Maybe you should go take a hot shower and shave Colonel. We can't really have people see you like this…"

John frowned, passing a hand over his tired face. "That bad?"

Ronon nodded. "Yeah, I think you've looked better after fighting five Wraith at the same time."

John sighed, not wanting to hear anymore. "Alright, alright. I get your point. Just go to the meeting. I'll be there in ten." With that, John walked past his two friends, quickly making his way to the showers, the possibility of seeing Elizabeth gave him some energy.

Ronon and Teyla turned to watching him go. "Wow…" Ronon said, shaking his head.

"Do you think we should tell Dr. Beckett?" Teyla asked, seriously concerned about John.

Ronon shrugged. "Don't know. Well, I don't think so. Let's see how they react today. If things don't improve we'll have to let the doc know."

Teyla nodded then she looked down at her watch. "We better go or we'll be late." She said, making her way back inside with Ronon following her closely behind.

Elizabeth was pacing restlessly around her office. She looked down at her watch and sighed. Five more minutes and she'll finally get to see John again. She wasn't used to being this restless all the time. She couldn't work, she couldn't sleep. Ever since she cut the connection with John last night, she's been snapping at everyone, she was on edge all the time, God forbid you say one thing wrong to her or try to be funny. She wasn't taking any of that today. Everything and anyone annoyed her. She unable to sit still and that kiss…she couldn't get it out of her head! John's perfect and soft lips, pressed against hers were all she could think about. And as if that wasn't bad enough a feeling of grief and dread took over her sometime during the night, making her think that John was dead even though she knew he was perfectly fine. At the beginning it seemed to happen only once an hour but the more she kept herself disconnected from John the more often it happened. But she couldn't, wouldn't give in to it. She was sure John was fine. This was all a game to him, wasn't it? She wondered how much the other guys would "respect" him if he'd be able to tell them that he screwed around with the boss. But John wasn't like that was he? Elizabeth sighed, rubbing her temples. She didn't know what to think anymore. She didn't want to think. Her brain was going into overdrive and she couldn't do anything to stop it. It seemed abnormal to have such a strong reaction to John's absence in her mind. They haven't even been connected for that long! She made a mental note to go and talk to Dr. Beckett after the briefing. This wasn't normal at all. Maybe she should have just gone back to the infirmary after all. She checked her watch once more, and then smiled. Two minutes after 0900. Perfect. Everyone should be there by now. Well she didn't really care about seeing anyone but John at the moment. She didn't care just how messed up that sounded. He was her second in command. Didn't that mean anything to her anymore? _Of course it does. That's why you disconnected yourself from John, remember?_ She reasoned with herself as she grabbed her notes, coffee and whatever else she needed then she exited her office, making her way quickly to the conference room.

Before she entered the conference room, she took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Then she walked through the open doors and was met by three anxious faces. Her eyes scanned the room and John was nowhere to be found. She willed herself to not react to his absence but her body was tense and she could barely fake a smile as she sat down. "Good morning everyone." She cleared her throat, focusing her attention on her notes, pretending to look for something that wasn't there. Teyla, Ronon and McKay looked at each other.

Teyla turned to McKay who was watching Elizabeth closely. "It appears that Dr. Weir is experiencing the same symptoms as the Colonel…"

Rodney nodded, not taking his eyes off of Elizabeth. "Yes, I see that. And I might have a theory of why that is happening but that will have to wait until John gets here. I want to see something."

Elizabeth looked up at Teyla. "Where is Colonel Sheppard? I thought I asked you to notify him of his meeting.

"And we did Dr. Weir." Teyla replied, her voice soft as she took in Elizabeth's tired form. "However, he was in a pretty bad shape so he had to go and take a shower."

Elizabeth frowned. "Bad shape? What do you mean?" she asked, trying hard to hide her concern.

Teyla looked at Ronon. "Well, we found him…on the deck and it appeared that he had not slept all night either. To be honest, I was quite blown away by his state of being. Like Ronon said earlier, he probably would have looked better after a full on fight with a couple Wraith."

Elizabeth flinched at Teyla's words, looking down at her hands. "So he felt it as well…" she mumbled softly to herself.

"If I may…" Rodney held up his hand, jumping into the conversation, catching Elizabeth's attention. "I might know why you two have reacted to the separation in such a drastic way. But I think that it would be best if we wait until Sheppard is here, just so I don't have to repeat myself." He said, flashing a small smile.

Elizabeth nodded a tired smile on her face. "Of course, Rodney." She looked over at Teyla. "How long did he say he'd be?" she asked, trying to hide her growing anticipation at the prospect of seeing him again.

The doors suddenly opened behind her and John entered, looking like his normal self once more. He was still tired and with all the previous symptoms but at least now he didn't look like a crazy, out of control man. As soon as he was inside the conference room, his eyes were glued at the back of Elizabeth's head. He waited until the doors closed behind him then spoke in a soft voice. "Sorry for being late. I had to…make myself presentable."

Elizabeth gave a small nod, not turning around to look at him. She thought she'd feel better once John was in the same room with her but his presence being so close yet out of reach seemed to make her symptoms even worse. Elizabeth sighed, trying to get herself under control, ignoring her minds insistence on connecting itself to John's. "T-Take a seat and we will start." She replied in a small and breathless voice then she cleared her throat, annoyed.

Seeing as Ronon, McKay and Teyla all sat on the right side of the oval table, he really had no choice but to go in the opposite direction and sit down on the closest chair to Elizabeth's left. Making his way to his seat, a small smirk appeared on his lips. It seemed that she was just as affected by the lack of connection as he was._ Good_, he thought, keeping his eyes locked onto Elizabeth's form, barely paying any attention to Ronon and Teyla and Rodney.

Elizabeth continued to look down, biting nervously on her lower lip as she played with her pen. Her mind was completely blank yet at the same time it was overflowed with thoughts and they all revolved around one man. That one infuriating man. John's proximity was starting to drive her crazy. All she could think about was those, hot, full lips pressed against hers once more, his hands wrapped around her keeping her safe. Elizabeth sighed, a shiver running down her spine, causing her to let out a small gasp as she felt John's consciousness rubbing insistently against her own, asking for entrance, making it that much harder for her to keep her shields up.

Teyla noticing that something weird was happening between them, decided to jump in. "Dr. Weir?" she asked, her tone cautious. "Is everything alright?"

Elizabeth cleared her throat, nodding her head, looking up from her notebook, flashing Teyla a small smile. "Yes, everything is fine. How about you start about telling me of the events that occurred while you were in charge…"

"Very well…" Teyla replied then stopped for a few seconds, wondering where and how to begin.

Elizabeth quickly turned her face and body towards John, glaring at him. "Stop that." She whispered softly.

John smirked, glad to see that Elizabeth finally decided to pay him some attention. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I doing something that makes you uncomfortable?" he whispered back, leaning closer towards her as he moved his chair closer as well.

Elizabeth swallowed hard, seeing how close John was getting. Damn him! She sighed heavily, turning away from John, trying to focus on what Teyla was saying. She turned her attention back at the Athosian woman, trying to ignore the man beside her completely. But John was having none of that. He was mad, mostly because she was willing to cause herself so much pain just because of a stupid little kiss. He brushed against her consciousness once more, a little harder this time, watching her face closely for her reaction.

Elizabeth gasped softly again as another jolt of pleasure made its way through her body, getting down right to her core. She cleared his throat then she turned towards John, giving him her killer glare.

**Stop that! **She yelled inside his mind, letting down every defense she had built up in the last six hours, giving him access to her mind once more.

Not having expected Elizabeth to open up her mind to his just yet, John's eyes widened as all the pressure that had been in his body for the past several hours drained away. Their minds linked immediately causing them both to flinch at the slight pain. Elizabeth sighed, taking a sip of her coffee, trying hard to keep her hands from shaking. The relief she felt was unimaginable. Her thoughts seemed to clear away, once more leaving her as the composed and in control Elizabeth that she used to be before all this madness happened. Now that all the tension and crazy, depressed thoughts were gone, Elizabeth noticed that the room had gone quiet. She looked up at Ronon, Teyla and McKay embarrassed, not knowing what to say. Thankfully Rodney came to her rescue.

"…So I take it you guys linked again?" Rodney asked, after a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence, having watched them closely this whole time.

All the lines on John's face disappeared, making him look much younger and more like his normal self before all this happened. He nodded a little, smiling, letting out a long breath. "Yes, we're back online."

Rodney nodded, looking slightly relieved. "Good, good. Now we can start doing some work around here. Like I mentioned before, I might know why you two reacted to the separation in such a dramatic way. "

"Please, tell us, so we know not to do it again." John said, not looking at Elizabeth but they both knew it was directed to her.

Elizabeth sent John a mental eye roll then she turned towards Rodney, trying to focus completely on him, which was getting harder by the minute. And John wasn't making it easy for her either. She could feel him lurking inside her mind and every now and then she had to pay attention to what memory or thought or feeling he was looking at to make sure it was nothing to could get her in trouble. She sighed, exasperated.

**Do you mind? I'm trying to listen to Rodney here. **

**You have stuff that could get you in trouble? Like what? **John asked, clearing having read her thoughts.

**Oh I don't know. I might have a list of torturous activities that I could use on you to keep you quiet for days on end. **

John smirked, turning to look at Elizabeth who looked very much like she was paying attention to what Rodney was saying. **I never imagined you as the kinky type, Liz. **

A blush crept up Elizabeth's neck to her cheeks. **I didn't mean it like THAT, John. **

**But you wouldn't object to kinky stuff, is that it? **

**John! I hardly doubt that is the kind of thing we should be talking about right now. **Elizabeth bit on her lower lip, staring down at the files in front of her, not really seeing them.

John rolled his eyes, a small smirk appearing on his lips. **Later then? **

**Not in a million years, Colonel. ** Elizabeth replied at which John sent her a mental pout.

While Elizabeth and John were engrossed in talking into each other's minds, Rodney had been talking, foolishly thinking that they were listening to him. He suddenly stopped, looking up from his notes and saw that no one, not even Teyla or Ronon was paying him even the slightest attention. They were busy watching Elizabeth and John staring at each other, undoubtedly speaking telepathically.

"Guys! Is seriously no one listening to what I'm saying?" Rodney asked, annoyed out of his mind. Here he was, trying to help those two and what were they doing? Ignoring him!

Elizabeth's attention was quickly brought back to professional matters thanks to Rodney's loud voice. "I'm sorry Rodney…I was…"

"Yeah, yeah I know what you were doing. Just forget it. I'll write up a report and you can read it whenever you feel like it. Unlike some people here, I've actually got some work to do." He snapped, taking all his notes and what not then stormed out of the conference room, annoyed.

Teyla stood up, looking at Elizabeth who has never looked so ashamed. "Dr. Weir, I believe it is best that we leave you and Colonel Sheppard alone for a while. We can all just write a report of the events that occurred since visiting PFX-519…"

Elizabeth jumped up, her eyes wide. "That really will not be necessary Teyla, we can just continue the debriefing without doctor McKay…"

Ronon shook his head. "I agree with Teyla, Elizabeth. It's best that we simply send you the reports. And believe me I'm not just saying that. Writing is hardly my idea of fun."

Elizabeth sighed, then after a few moments of silence she finally nodded, leaning back in her seat. "You are right. Have a report ready for me by tomorrow at 0800."

"Yes, ma'am." Ronon replied, smiling widely as he pushed his chair away from the table, standing up. Giving a small nod to John, who simply grinned at him like an idiot, he made his way out of the conference room with Teyla closely behind him.

Once they were alone, Elizabeth sat there, playing with her pen, trying to keep her temper under control.

John cleared his throat, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that settled between them.

"So…" he started but was quickly interrupted by Elizabeth's cold voice.

"I want you in my office in five minutes. We will talk then." She stood up, grabbing her stuff then she quickly stormed out of the conference room, leaving John behind all alone.

John sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Great. Another lecture." He mumbled softly under his breath, sitting up from his seat. He didn't feel like listening to a lecture right now but he knew it was all his fault things were going so wrong lately so he really did owe this to Elizabeth. Sighing heavily, he reluctantly left the conference room and started making his way slowly towards Elizabeth's office.

**Hey Guys! This is probably the longest chapter I wrote so far. It didn't turn out as I expected but yeah, I hope you like it. Constructive criticism is welcome! =) **


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